Recovery of piecewise smooth parameters in an acoustic-gravitational system of equations from exterior Cauchy data

Abstract

In this paper, we study an inverse problem for an acoustic-gravitational system whose principal symbol is identical to that of an acoustic wave operator. The displacement vector of a gas or liquid between the unperturbed and perturbed flow is denoted by $u(t,x)$. It satisfies a partial differential equation (PDE) system with a principal symbol corresponding to an acoustic wave operator, but with additional terms to account for a global gravitational field and self-gravitation. These factors make the operator nonlocal, as it depends on the wave speed and density of mass. We assume that all parameters are piecewise smooth in $\mathbb{R}^3$ (i.e., smooth everywhere except for jump discontinuities across closed hypersurfaces called interfaces) but unknown inside a bounded domain $\Omega$. We are given the solution operator for this acoustic-gravitational system, but only outside $\Omega$ and only for initial data supported outside $\Omega$. Using high-frequency waves, we prove that the piecewise smooth wave speed and density are uniquely determined by this map under certain geometric conditions.